


Captured Piece

by Samuraiter



Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-12
Updated: 2017-02-12
Packaged: 2018-09-23 16:36:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9665813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Samuraiter/pseuds/Samuraiter
Summary: Virion seeks advice from Robin in a roundabout way.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [straightforwardly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/straightforwardly/gifts).



> Most likely set during a calm spell in Part I of the game.

Strategy required the ability to generate a complete picture of a scenario in the brain using lines and colors made up of everything that might be used to interpret the thoughts and actions of all the different actors on the stage in addition to the possible directions all of those elements might take from one instant to the next. Robin had mastered that ability, and she had used it to save the Shepherds from defeat at every turn, but she had also learned that it had applications outside of combat.

One of those applications involved the noble sitting across the board from her, seeming to look down at all of the pieces he had in play, but ... looking _through_ them, as if staring into nothingness – rather unlike Virion, considering his normal focus. That suggested that there had been a change in his life that had been strong enough to affect his concentration, and Robin had not encountered anything that could easily do that.

But she had encountered _one_ thing that might have that effect upon him.

"Your move, Virion," she said, but, as he lifted one hand to reach for one of his pieces, she added, "and ... does she have a name?" That made his hand pause, and he turned his gaze to her, narrowing his eyes slightly. She had his attention. Not that he had been putting in his normal effort to keep his face neutral and expressionless. No, he _had_ been rocked to his core if it had been so easy for her to read that far into his actions.

"You are not as gifted as you believe," he replied, raising a brow and quirking a lip, "if you are only asking for a name. Start at a more basic question than that, if it is the truth you seek." He moved the piece he had touched, but he did his best to keep her gaze locked to his – distraction, removing her attention from her pieces, as if remembering why they had started playing that game in the first place. That was more like the Virion she had first invited to the board, but she could not overlook how he had slipped.

" _Is_ there a more basic question than that?" she asked. He did not reply, instead folding his hands under his chin. "Then I phrased the first one incorrectly. Does _this person_ have a name?" That made him chuckle, and he shook his head, but he also averted his eyes for a second – a tell, one that she had learned from months of observation.

"That he does," Virion said, "and therein lies the rub." He started to smirk, but changed his mind, opting for honesty instead of sophistry. "All these years courting the ladies, playing at the games of the heart, and it is a man who makes me ask myself if I might genuinely have feelings for another." A hint of pain at the corners of his eyes, all but invisible unless one had been studying him. "Libra. I feel I can tell you that and have it not leave the space between us. You have earned that level of trust from me." He did not blink – a very rare admission for him, not couched in any of his flowery speech.

"Unexpected," Robin admitted, bowing her head, "but understandable. He has a way about him, and it can reach anyone. Including you, apparently." They both had a chuckle at that. "So ... are you going to tell him soon, Virion? If you feel this way, you and I both know that there is only pain if you leave it unspoken for too long."

"I am," he replied, "and that is why I came here to play today. I wished to ask for your blessing." Seeing incredulity on her face, he added, "I _did_ say that you have earned my trust, did I not? You are perhaps the only person to see through me, and that makes you the only person whose opinion I value." And he amended, "Aside from Libra, but he sees the truth about everyone. Must be one of the perks of being a holy man."

"If you are here to _ask_ for my blessing," she said, laying both of her palms flat on the edge of the board, "then you must realize that I am going to _give_ it. Otherwise, why ask in the first place?" He smiled at that, and she shook her head. "Frustrating man. It takes the patience of a saint to handle you. Small wonder that it was a saint who ended up captivating you." She wrinkled her nose, perhaps realizing that she was letting her feelings show a little too freely. "You have my blessing, then, but you had best not waste it. It is not a thing that I give lightly." Her turn to be as honest as possible.

"I have no intention of wasting anything," he shrugged, "be it blessings or time. A pity, though." He winked. "If I win him over and promise myself to him, I will not be able to flatter you." A sigh, long and dramatic. "Not that you fall for my sweet words, anyway. I find that both endearing and annoying." His way of saying that she had his respect, that she was always going to have it for as long as they fought on the same side. "I must go, then. No time like the present to put the hammer to the iron and watch the sparks."

"Virion?" He paused as he rose from the table. "Good luck." A quick embrace, formal and hurried, and he made for the door, but he paused one more time, smirking.

"Checkmate, by the way. And thank you." And he was gone, off to confess to Libra.

Robin looked down at the board. "Damn me, then." The one move Virion had made had put her in a position from which none of her forces could escape. "And damn _him_ , too, that light-fingered, silver-tongued rascal."

**END**.


End file.
